What's nouvelle? Aaah ... bistros

Tuesday 20 June 2006 23:00 BST

Old-time bistros were small and dingy with stroppy and snarly French waiters. They served time-warp dishes such as coq au vin at prices that weren't too outrageous, but they had become places where nostalgia ruled the roost. The good news is not only that the bistro has reinvented itself, but that its latest incarnation is the "bistro moderne".

One of the best things that has happened to the London dining scene for decades, these newcomers have most of the features of the old-fashioned bistro but with everything refined and updated. It's out with the brusque Gallic service and in with friendly and efficient waiters. It's out with the carafe of house red and in with sensibly priced wine lists. It's out with the gingham tablecloths and in with understated restaurant design.

But the most encouraging aspect of the bistro moderne phenomena is that affordable prices are an integral part of the package. Perversely, keeping the prices down has a beneficial effect on the menu; when aiming for an average food bill of £25 a head or less, chefs are forced to use cheaper cuts of meat, and that requires more skill. There's no overreliance on swish ingredients such as foie gras, langoustines and truffles.

Which is why a new bistro moderne such as Arbutus on Frith Street will feature unfashionable fish like pollack, plus offal and "chicken oysters" - those delicious nuggets of meat tucked away behind the thigh. Skill in the kitchen and carefully-chosen ingredients can be combined to deliver good food and keen prices.

One of the forerunners of the bistro moderne movement was Racine on Knightsbridge where Henry Harris serves resolutely French dishes and finds that the cheaper cuts of meat are often the bestsellers - particularly offal. Or there is Galvin (another very Francophile establishment on Baker Street), run by Chris and Jeff Galvin. This restaurant is almost large enough to qualify as a "brasserie moderne" but it sticks to the mantra of affordable prices and honest French cooking.

The Ambassador on Exmouth Market is another new restaurant to embrace the ideals of bistro moderne - the décor is very sparse and particularly modern, while the menu is honest and workmanlike, with dishes like casserole of squid and pig's cheek, braised pork belly with calves' sweetbreads, and wild mushroom and macaroni gratin. These are not ostensibly French dishes, but they are all sufficiently unfussy to sit easily on a bistro menu.

And despite its somewhat retro name, the Ambassador keeps its prices down and offers a very well-grounded wine list - finding something decent to drink at under £20 a bottle is a rare enough event to be worthy of note.

In Paris restaurateurs are also toying with the idea of bistro moderne (or "bistro nouvelle" as Fay Maschler called it when writing about L'Avant Go°t in the 13th arrondissement earlier this year).

What is fascinating is that chefs as Michelin-starred and well-respected as Guy Savoy have spotted the merits of "affordable -and-cheerful" rather that "poshfood-with-elaborate-presentation" - his bistro moderne is called L'Atelier Ma"tre Albert, it's in the fifth arrondissement and is a modern take on a traditional rotisserie.

At its best French cuisine is as good as it gets; thankfully with a bistro moderne you get skilful cooking, friendly service and affordable prices. Let's have more of them.